Trump goes after Obama era climate policies to make 'America great'

Donald Trump is going about dismantling all the orders and laws brought in by Obama with religious zeal. He may have failed on the medical bill but he has signed a slew of executive orders undoing all the hard work done by Obama as far as climate change is concerned.The main target is Obama's clean power plan. This was a pet project of the previous president and was part of the US commitment to a global climate change accord, which was signed by almost 200 countries in Paris in 2015. The order required states to cut carbon emissions from power plants in an effort to cut pollution.

The president throughout his election campaign had repeatedly said that he would dismantle this law to help coal miners and oil drillers.

Energy independence order

The president has made good his promise.His "energy independence order" goes against the US commitment at the Paris meeting. In effect, the new order annuls a ban on coal leasing on federal lands. It also lifts the cap on methane emissions from oil and gas production. In an address to assembled coal miners at the headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency headquarters, he said: " I am taking historic steps to lift restrictions on American energy, to reverse government intrusion, and to cancel job killing regulations".

This is a complete reversal of Obama's policy.

Donald is not concerned about climate change. His aim is to revive the drilling and mining industry that had gone into recession. The order will go down well with his core supporters but environmental agencies are planning to contest this order in court. Trump tweeted

Campaign promises

This wide-ranging order is a bold step and was a campaign promise.

Donald is trying hard to implement all his campaign promises from the ban on Muslim travel to the wall on the US-Mexico border. But perhaps when he went about making these promises he was unaware of the ramifications and cost of what he was promising.The wall, for example, is going to cost billions and will be a drain on the state exchequer. Donald is meeting opposition at every step and it will be interesting to see how the president copes with the opposition in the months to come.